Castle ruin. Peter H. / Pixabay.com / 2017 / CC0 1.0
The 29th of May is End of the Middle Ages Day.
The Middle Ages was the period in Europe between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Renaissance.
The day marks the day that Constantinople fell to the Ottomans on the 29th of May, 1453.
Some historians have informally chosen this event as an arbitrary milestone to mark the end of the Middle Ages in Western Europe.
When Constantinople was conquered, many scholars from there fled to the Western Europe, bringing their knowledge and books with them. This added fuel to what would become the intellectual, cultural and culinary rebirth of Western Europe. While some people treat the renaissance as a historical period, others see it as more an intellectual movement.
Of course, no one living during what we now call the “Middle Ages” would have said they were. They would have, like us right now, said they were living in “modern, contemporary” history, because it was at the time.
#EndOfTheMiddleAgesDay #Medieval #MiddleAges
See also:
- Anthimus, the last of the Roman and an early Medieval food writer;
- read about food in Constantinople;
- read about Medieval Food;
- How to cook a medieval feast: 11 recipes from the Middle Ages (British Museum. Link valid as of May 2021.)
Activities for today
- learn about the fall of Constantinople;
- inform yourself about medieval food;
- have some friends over and try to make some medieval food;
- try some mead.
Sources
Bauer, Susan Wise. Five Events that began the renaissance (or ended the Middle Ages). Charles City, Virginia: Well Trained Mind. 28 May 2017. Accessed April 2021 at https://welltrainedmind.com/a/five-events-began-renaissance-ended-middle-ages/
Erin. End of the Middle Ages Day, May 29th. Blog post. 29 May 2007. Accessed April 2021 at http://almanacofmerriment.blogspot.com/2007/05/end-of-middle-ages-day-may-29th.html